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Holding Back the Tide

Directed by Emily Packer

This impressionist hybrid documentary traces the oyster through its many life cycles in New York, once the world’s oyster capital. Now their specter haunts the city through queer characters embodying ancient myth, discovering the overlooked history and biology of the bivalve that built the city. As environmentalists restore them to the harbor, Holding Back The Tide looks to the oyster as a queer icon, entangled with nature, with much to teach about our continued survival.

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Text reads The Future is Fluid: Reawakening Urban Landscapes to Nature’s Wisdom, Wednesday April 17 Inset photo of Black woman at shoreline posing like Botticelli's Venus

The Future is Fluid: Reawakening Urban Landscapes to Nature’s Wisdom

How are we looking to nature as a guide in navigating ecological degradation through our built environment?